<?php
function html_cut($text, $max_length)
{
    $tags   = array();
    $result = "";

    $is_open   = false;
    $grab_open = false;
    $is_close  = false;
    $in_double_quotes = false;
    $in_single_quotes = false;
    $tag = "";

    $i = 0;
    $stripped = 0;

    $stripped_text = strip_tags($text);

    while ($i < strlen($text) && $stripped < strlen($stripped_text) && $stripped < $max_length)
    {
        $symbol  = $text{$i};
        $result .= $symbol;

        switch ($symbol)
        {
            case '<':
                $is_open   = true;
                $grab_open = true;
                break;

            case '"':
                if ($in_double_quotes)
                $in_double_quotes = false;
                else
                $in_double_quotes = true;

                break;

            case "'":
                if ($in_single_quotes)
                $in_single_quotes = false;
                else
                $in_single_quotes = true;

                break;

            case '/':
                if ($is_open && !$in_double_quotes && !$in_single_quotes)
                {
                    $is_close  = true;
                    $is_open   = false;
                    $grab_open = false;
                }

                break;

            case ' ':
                if ($is_open)
                $grab_open = false;
                else
                $stripped++;

                break;

            case '>':
                if ($is_open)
                {
                    $is_open   = false;
                    $grab_open = false;
                    array_push($tags, $tag);
                    $tag = "";
                }
                else if ($is_close)
                {
                    $is_close = false;
                    array_pop($tags);
                    $tag = "";
                }

                break;

            default:
                if ($grab_open || $is_close)
                $tag .= $symbol;

                if (!$is_open && !$is_close)
                    $stripped++;
        }
        $i++;
    }

    while ($tags)
    $result .= "</".array_pop($tags).">";

    return $result;
}